Lisa Lyon: Bodybuilding Champion as Mapplethorpe's Muse

The third installment of artpress's 'Art & Sport' alphabet series, published for the Paris 2024 Olympics, focuses on Lisa Lyon, the first professional women's world champion in bodybuilding and fitness. Born May 13, 1953, in Los Angeles, Lyon studied anthropology at the University of California and was exceptionally accepted into a men's kendo team. She fascinated photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, who met her at a Manhattan party in 1979 and created nearly 200 images of her over several years. These were published in Artforum in 1980, exhibited at Documenta 7 in Kassel in 1982, at Castelli Gallery in New York in 1983, and compiled in the book 'Lady: Lisa Lyon.' Lyon also posed for Joel-Peter Witkin, Helmut Newton, and Lynn Davis. Witkin depicted her as both Kouros and Hercules. Mapplethorpe's work featuring Lyon is currently on view at Thaddaeus Ropac gallery in Paris (March 2–April 6, 2024), curated by Edward Enninful. A collective exhibition 'Acte 2. Hommage à la galerie Texbraun 1980-1986' at Galerie Baudouin Lebon in Paris includes Witkin's images of Lyon (until February 24, 2024). The article argues that Lyon's physique, sculpted through exercise, bordered on artificiality, and her image as a model for avant-garde photographers elevated her to an iconic status, blurring gender stereotypes.